Bite
by battante
Summary: As far as anyone can remember, Leah Clearwater has always come with a bite.


I own nothing... :(

* * *

As far as anyone can remember, Leah Clearwater always came with a bite.

When she was a kid, the bite was only just a nibble. It came out occasionally, like when someone teased her about loving her baby brother, even though everyone knew boys had cooties. Get in front of her in the lunch line; she'd kick you in the back of your shin. Hard. And no one was spared if they talked smack about her Barbies. If you were mean to her, she would retaliate with full force. Even then, as far as anyone could remember, Leah Clearwater always came with a bite.

When Leah became a teenager, she changed, and the nibble changed with her. It evolved into an official bite. As time progressed, she started to taunt at others instead of waiting for a reason first. She experimented, wanted to see when people would crack. Three comments and she'd get an awkward laugh; a few more taunts gave her a nervous fidgeting. She observed how they were usually unsure of what to do, how they never actually tried to stop her. She was still loveable-well, likeable-, still nice in some odd way. Just not so much as before. Sarcastic remarks became her trademark, as well as her usual eye role. She and her bite became like a packaged deal. Some say her actions were as a natural defense, others say that's just the way she was. Either way, as far as anyone can remember, Leah Clearwater always came with a bite.

When Sam dumped Leah for her cousin, things went a bit off track. She was quiet for some time, preferring to keep to herself and staying shut in her room. The bite had disappeared, vanished completely. No one understood what had happened to Leah. And then suddenly, on an unsuspecting day on an unsuspecting Seth, wham! A full on ravenous chomp replaced it. She was no longer even the remotest bit likeable. No one was saved from Leah's wrath. Not one soul was excused from her bitterness. She hated everyone. She blamed the entire world for her problems, her heartache, everything that ever went wrong from then on.

She wasn't deaf; she could hear the whispered names and words that no one was ever brave enough to say to her face. She could handle bitter because she _was_ bitter. She was bitter because her boyfriend dumped her, bitter because it was for her _cousin_. She was bitter because in a way, that just made her fears of never being good enough come true. And she was bitter because everywhere she looked, she saw eyes staring at her, filled with only one emotion. _Pity._ She could handle being called sad, she'd even go as far as harpy, but pitiful was the one word that made her crack. It made her want to punch something in the face. They could keep their damn pity because she didn't need it, and she sure as hell didn't _want_ it. She made that clear to anyone that came in contact with her, even though humans were so careful to stay away from Leah those days.

The surprising thing was that no one was surprised by her behavior or by the clear evidence that her bite had returned, had amplified and turned into a monster's chomp. They say that they had expected it anyway, because as far as anyone can remember, Leah Clearwater always came with a bite.

Then Jacob Black came along. He was the only one that could tolerate her poisonous munch. He never judged her for the way she handled her pain, never pitied her for the things that had happened to her. Often he yelled at her to get her shit together when she was going through her dramatic phases, told her to stop being a baby and compose herself. But honestly, it was necessary because it was the only way for him to get through to Leah. It made her angry at first. Why was this kid coming into her life, barging in on her personal problems? Why was he staying with her when everyone else was gone? Did he think he was some miracle worker, that he could fix her? If that was the case, there was news for him; she wasn't broken. And how come no matter how hard she tried to bite him, tried to sink her teeth into him, she never broke skin?

He never winced when she threw insults at him, never left abruptly when she crossed far past the line. Instead, he returned her remarks, pushed _her _buttons. He responded to her as if they were discussing something as simple as the weather. It was like he was immune to her shrewdness. And after some time, his resistance helped her. It was as if he was rescuing her from herself by being the only one to ever bite back. With him, Leah's chomp eventually simmered down enough to be a bite again. It didn't go away completely and she definitely didn't transform into some daffodil like her cousin. But then again, no one really expected that to happen because as far as anyone can remember, Leah Clearwater always came with a bite.

* * *

Guess who's back? Me! Anyway, review please :)


End file.
